Something Beautiful
by N811
Summary: This story is about Severus and about finding love. Hopefully it is him finding love. I can't tell you what will happen. I don't know it yet. What I can tell you is that this story will surprise us all. But mostly it will surprise Severus.
1. Chapter 1

Imagine this:

Your hair is long and black - let your hand decide if it is greasy or not.

You have a huge nose. It looks horrible but it has its advantages. I can't think of any right now but I am sure there are some. Well maybe one, there has to be at least one.

You are a hero. But nobody knows it. And if they do know they do not care.

You work for the man you hate the most. Well, second most. But you are not sure about that. Nobody is.

But that's ok because you have a sexy voice.

Students are afraid of you. People don't like you. But they still annoy you.

Especially Albus Dumbledore. The old man loved to annoy you. He enjoyed it more than anything. And he did it with a twinkle in his eyes.

Think about it. Would you be angry? Would you care? I think you do. But it's hard to know if you don't talk about it. And even harder if you don't think about what you feel.

So, your life is sad and dark. You are alone. You don't like your life. You hate yourself. You torture yourself with you past and make your present miserable. You think that everything is your fault. Your fault alone.

Some of the things that happened really are your fault. But you made up for it. You sacrificed your life because of the mistakes you made and you regret them more than anything. You think of them all the time.

But what if I told you, that you deserved to be happy? That your life could be sunny and NOT alone. That you could have friendship and love.

Would you want that? Would you have the balls to grab it if it hit you in the face?

Your answer doesn't matter. Because frankly: This story isn't about you. Neither is it about me.

It's about the man everybody hates and we love. It's about Severus Snape.

But before I start to unfold the story of Severus Snape I want to ask you a question. And this time your answer matters.

Do you think he has the balls to do it?


	2. Chapter 2

Taking of his mask he slowly made his way towards the castle, leaving the forbidden forest behind him. Usually he would apparate straight into his chambers or the hospital wing if he had been hurt during a summon but tonight he felt like taking a walk.

Severus thought about what the Dark Lord had said during their meeting. It was a rare occasion that he didn't feel the need to punish one of his servants in favor of actually discussing what he had planned. Although Severus was glad that he came back from a summon without being hurt or disturbed by what he had seen, he felt strangely scared by the news the Dark Lord had shared with them.

He sounded so sure of himself, so much more of the man he had once been. Able to charm people with his words and good looks, with the determination to be greater than anyone else before him. He was the man that Severus once wanted to follow, the man who gave him strength and made him believe in himself, before he turned into the cold and heartless monster he was now.

Seeing his master like this had awoken memories of the past in Severus, memories of cruel childhood pranks and beautiful girls; laughing, breaking his heart. It has been a long time since he had felt all this pain again. Severus had become a master of deception, hiding his true emotions and allies so well, that sometimes he himself didn't know on which side he stood and if he felt anything at all.

Acting as the greasy bat for so long had truly made him a bastard. He had never been nice or polite before but he had been different before the Marauders took the little he had. He had been human.

Now, he didn't know anymore who he was. And absurd as that was, he didn't even care. He had learned a long time ago that there were people in the world that nobody should give a shit about. And he had learned early that he was one of those people.

Walking past the gatekeepers House he could almost see Hogwarts. When he was a child his heart filled with joy every time he saw the lights of Hogwarts. But now his heart was empty. The place he had once called home was filled with too many memories of hatred and distrust.

The war was heading towards an end. Whatever it was that the Dark Lord had it would end the war. He just didn't know which side would win. Only one thing he was sure of, he wouldn't live to find out.

While he was thinking about his death he passed the weeping Willow, thinking about the two times he almost died there, when he saw a body lying at the roots of the tree. He stopped abruptly, taking out this wand and stupefying the tree.

Cursing the stupid dunderheads that resided in the castle during school term, annoying him and wasting their lives for the boy-who-stupidly-thought-he-could-save-everyone, he stepped closer, wondering what had happened the this particular student, when he realized that this was no student at all.

He kneeled down beside the body. It was a girl, around 20 he guessed. She was covered in blood and her clothes were torn apart. Checking for her pulse he didn't find any. Severus jerked away. Her skin felt hot, almost burning him, which was very uncommon for a dead human being.

Pointing his wand at her he searched for dark spells, but found none. What he found instead what a tattoo on her hipbone. It was small flame, barely but visibly moving, beating like a heart and warmth radiating from it.

The little flame was intoxicating. He couldn't stop watching it and he desperately wanted to touch it. But although people thought him to be a sick bastard he knew that touching a dead girl in an inappropriate place like this was even too sick for his standards.

So he picked her gently up, not once considering to use a simple spell. Instead he carried her all the way into the hospital wing. She felt warm in his arms, warmer than a dead corpse should. And while he brought her back to the castle he watched her intensely. She didn't look dead to him, merely asleep, like an innocent angel.

Her hair shimmered red in the moon light, falling over her beautiful face, dancing along the soft lines of her face. Maybe people were right, he thought. After all, he held a dead girl in his arms, admiring her beauty and craving to touch her delicate skin.

It seemed like an eternity until he finally entered the hospital wing. It was empty except for a small figure moving around in a dimly lit office. She must have heard him coming in for the light went on in an instant and she rushed through her office into the room, her eyes wide and wand ready to heal whatever wound waited for her.

He could see that Poppy wasn't surprised to see him. He came here fairly often. She was surprised to see him unhurt and more so she was surprised to see him carrying a girl. She knew him since he was a small boy and never had she seen him touching a girl.

She knew of course that he had plenty experience with women. Nobody may believe it but Severus Snape was indeed a womanizer. They fell for his mysterious bad boy appearance and loved his ignorant and forbidding attitude just as much as his sexy voice and sarcasm. Severus was not the guy that would woo a girl and carry her in his arms, he was the one to destroy her marriage, ruin her for others and break her heart in an instance.

Knowing all this and knowing him for most of his live she was about to inquire about the lovely lady who had won his heart when he answered her question before she was able to ask.

"She is dead. I found her on the school ground, under the weeping Willow."

Poppy nodded and gestured for a bed. Severus put the girl down on one of them when the door opened again. Minerva and Albus strode inside, the older woman looking worried while the old man looked furious.

They must have seen him entering the castle. During his years teaching he had developed a deep friendship with Minerva. Since the Dark Lord came back she insisted on waiting for him when he was summoned, forcing Albus to do so too. Although they all new that Albus didn't care much for what state he came back in as long as he had valuable news for him.

"Severus! What the hell have you done?"

"I did nothing! I found her like this outside and brought her in. I thought it was a student!"

"Is she?"

"No. I have never seen her."

Albus came closer to her and paled when he saw her face. Never had he looked so old and vulnerable. Severus might have pitied the man, had he not been too angered be his assumption. It had always been like this. Whenever something went wrong it was his fault. No matter whose mistake it was, Severus had to pay for it.

"What is it, Albus? Do you know who she is?"

Minerva's voice pulled him back from his mind. Albus stared at the girl with eyes wide open, no twinkle in them this time, just fear and shock.

"I do. I thought she had died years ago…"

Poppy and Minerva stepped closer now, trying to see what Dumbledore saw, trying to figure out what reduced him to this weak old man that was now standing in front of them, holding on to the night table for comfort for otherwise he would have lost balance or even fainted.

Severus looked away. No matter how much that man had hurt him over the years, how often he had disappointed him and let him down, no matter how much Severus hated him; he couldn't stand to see the man he thought to be capable of winning this war so shattered and weak.

Instead his eyes rested on the girls' hip again. What was left of her clothes covered the spot where he saw the flame earlier. Without thinking he freed her hip from the clothes and softly stroked the skin underneath it, touching the small flame lightly with his fingertips.

Suddenly a wave of warmth and magic over flood him and sent him stumbling backwards. His skin tingled and his heart beat as fast as it never had before. He didn't feel burned, nor was he hurt but the sensation he felt when touching her was something he thought he would never experience again.

Shocked he looked back at the others, who were staring at him wide eyed when Albus suddenly broke the silence.

"She's breathing…"


End file.
